


Dancing on to your heartbeat

by BadWolf_TimeAndSpace



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Falling In Love, Fluff and Angst, One Shot, ranya
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-12
Updated: 2017-08-12
Packaged: 2018-12-13 06:13:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11753715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BadWolf_TimeAndSpace/pseuds/BadWolf_TimeAndSpace
Summary: Bestseller author Anya Forrester had settled in for a life of loneliness. Then Raven Reyes came along and changed everything.---





	Dancing on to your heartbeat

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SilentStormSociety](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilentStormSociety/gifts).



> For my friend, SilentStormSociety (who is the most avid Anya enthusiast I know), to celebrate the completion of one of her own Ranya fics.
> 
> This story is inspired by the beautiful song “Symphony” by Clean Bandit. Lyrics are in italic script.
> 
> If you’d like to give it a listen:  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aatr_2MstrI

 

I’ve been hearing symphonies  
Before all I heard was silence

 

 

Anya was alone. Most of the time she didn’t mind. Quite the contrary, she often found herself seeking out the loneliness. Being with other people just wasn’t her thing, she told herself. Apart from a few exceptions, like her sister and two or three close friends, she felt uncomfortable in the presence of others. Her level of discomfort rising correspondingly to the number of people, she felt downright exhausted after larger social events. 

In the early years of her writing career she had to endure those rather often. Her second novel had become quite the bestseller and the promotion tour for it had been arduous. When her third and fourth book had been successful too and she had finally made a name for herself, she couldn’t leave all the publicity behind soon enough. 

The profits from her books and from selling the movie rights had been high enough to provide a comfortable life without monetary worries. So Anya had bought an old house on a hill that was about 10 miles away from a small town. Even though the house needed some renovations, the beautiful view with a lake at the foot of the hill surrounded by a forest and a regal mountain range in the distance had convinced Anya to purchase it. 

Standing on the patio of her new home, a mug of hot coffee in her hand, she contemplated about all the things that had to be done around the house. She had moved in about two weeks ago, but all her furniture was still scattered around the first floor because most rooms on the upper floor couldn’t be used yet. The creaking wooden panel under her feet reminded her of the estate agent’s warning that the old wood was probably decayed and it would be best to tear the whole patio down and build a new one from the ground up. 

The next few days she was looking for a constructor and finally hired a local company that seemed decent and made her a good deal. 

They started the renovation within the same week. The man in charge, Lincoln, was a nice burly guy who seemed to know what he was doing. They efficiently went around the house and through all the rooms to determine what needed to be done and before Anya knew it there was a constant noise from the construction machines and things being torn down, including the patio.

It was a warm summer, so she spent most of her days sitting in the garden under an old oak tree, a few meters away from the house and all the riot. 

After a week Anya had created her own little oasis there with a garden chair and table, headphones and of course her laptop. Nevertheless her next book was a work in progress and it was going slow, real slow. Feeling a headache coming up, Anya rubbed her temples and decided to take a break. When she approached the house to get some more lemon water, she suddenly recognized an unfamiliar figure standing in the middle of the leftover debris of the old patio. Up until now the construction crew had only consisted of Lincoln and two other guys. 

A little bit surprised by the newcomer she stopped in her tracks and took the woman in, her lean but quite muscular figure, her long dark hair up in a ponytail, bronze-colored skin gleaming in the sunlight. She was busy taking measures and typing something into her tablet, her nose and forehead adorably wrinkled in concentration. 

As the woman looked up and their eyes locked, Anya felt like her breath had been taken away. Before her stood the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. The stranger’s dark eyes were studying her intently, so she tore away her gaze and willed the emerging blush on her cheeks away. Stumbling forward she internally cursed herself for losing her cool so fast. 

“Hi, you must be the owner of the house, Anya Forrester, right?” The gorgeous Latina asked while reaching out in greeting. 

Anya took the offered hand and was quite proud of herself that she managed to answer somewhat coherently despite the proximity of the intoxicating woman.

“Yes, I am. And you are?”

“Raven Reyes, at your service, ma’am.” She answered in mock salute and then proceeded in a more serious tone. “I’m going to draft and build your new patio.”

Anya couldn’t help but smile at the antics of the younger woman.

“So you are working for Lincoln?”

“I’m in the middle of getting my masters degree in constructional engineering and Lincoln is so kind to let me work for him during semester break. This way I get the practical experience and the money to pay for my student loans.”

“That makes sense. Ok, I leave you to it then. Ahem, do you want some lemon water, I’m about to get some more?”

“Oh no, thanks. Maybe later.”

“Sure, I’ll leave a carafe in the fridge for you and put a glass on the kitchen counter. Just help yourself.”

“Ok, thanks, Miss Forrester…”

“Anya, please.”

“Anya, it was nice to meet you. Guess you will see me around.” She laughed lightly and Anya wished she would hear that sound more often from now on. 

“Likewise, Raven.” Anya smiled and made her way to the kitchen, feeling a new kind of excitement buzzing through her veins. 

 

 

Was solo singing on my own  
Now I can’t find the key without you

 

 

Much to her delight Anya saw Raven daily from then on. 

She observed her from her little place by the oak tree every so often – just to keep track of the progress of her work of course. It had nothing to do with the blatant display of muscular arms and shoulders courtesy of the form fitting tank tops that the female construction worker was usually wearing. So what, if Raven winked in her direction sometimes when she caught the blonde staring. The sun was hot and she burned easily, that was the obvious explanation for the warmth radiating through her body and the constant pink on her cheeks, right? 

Anya also found herself taking trips to the kitchen more frequently, always passing Raven with a smile on her face. She prepared beverages and sandwiches for the construction workers. Though most of them lived in the nearby town and drove home for lunch. She just wanted to be a courteous employer and besides, Raven always stayed for lunch. The young engineer would bring something of her own at first, but Anya insisted on providing a meal. So more often than not they sat together at the kitchen table and ate and talked, a lot. They talked about their lives, their work, their families, their favorite music and movies, their favorite food… Both delighted by the discovery that they had a mutual affinity to pineapple on their pizza. 

Anya had never opened up to another human being so fast and thoroughly. It should have frightened her. Instead getting to know the sharp-witted, intelligent, feisty and funny woman in return made her feel happy and excited and buzzing with energy. 

She didn’t realize she was addicted until the day the patio was completed and Raven was packing up her things. 

At first she didn’t understand the dread that was settling in her stomach. Not until she was sitting at the kitchen table alone for lunch, her sandwich untouched, replaying their goodbye from this morning in her head and slowly realizing that this had probably been the last time she had ever seen Raven Reyes. 

 

They had hugged timidly and shyly, so very much unlike Raven. 

“Ok, so that’s it then, I guess.” Raven had muttered.

“Yeah, thank you so much for your work, the new patio is beautiful.” Anya had answered smiling. 

“It’s been my pleasure.” 

The brunette had hesitated for a little while, somewhat awkwardly teetering on her feet, but then she had just smiled, a smile that hadn’t reached her eyes, and with a last “Bye Anya.” she had left.

 

By the time Anya put her sandwich back in the refrigerator, feeling sick, she was ready to admit to herself that she would miss the other woman. Or already missed her?

She wondered if she should have asked for her number and why Raven hadn’t asked for hers. She was gone not even two hours and Anya wanted to see her again so badly that the desire almost physically hurt. 

Opening the back door she stepped out onto the new patio, it really was beautiful. She let her fingers roam over the warm, smooth wood of the balustrade and looked out to the majestic mountains in the distance. The white marquee protecting her from the bright afternoon sun, she just stood there deep in thought. 

She had never been in love. Of course there had been the occasional girlfriend, but she never felt that deep, all consuming feeling that poets mused about and singers sung about and even she herself wrote about in her books. She had felt like a fraud sometimes, writing about feelings she had never felt herself. But then her imagination had always been strong and manifold, so nobody would notice.

In her mid-thirties now, single and living mostly isolated, she had already made peace with the thought that she would never find that special someone who would want to spent their life with her and vice versa, that she would grow old alone, that she would die alone. Sure, there had been moments when she had clung to hope, had told herself that maybe things could be different. If she just reached out more, went to gay bars or wherever queer women met these days, maybe got a profile on one of those dating websites. But then she had remembered her social awkwardness, her fears and shortcomings and she had found herself not able to step out of her comfort zone. 

With Raven it had been different though. It had not felt like an invasion of her privacy, she had let the other woman in willingly. She had always felt comfortable with her. 

Hence she couldn’t help to think that maybe Raven could have been that special someone for her, should have been her someone. 

By the time the sun was low on the horizon Anya knew she was in love with Raven Reyes. 

But did Raven feel the same? Could anybody even love her? The fact that the other woman had just left indicated that Raven most probably didn’t reciprocate her feelings. So what now?

Mentally and emotionally exhausted she went to bed early but couldn’t sleep. Her mind still occupied with the dark haired beauty and the thought of what could have been. She cursed the charming woman, because before she hadn’t known what it felt like, hadn’t known what she missed out on. But now after the high of being with someone you were in love with, it all came crashing down. Lost in despair like never before, she cried herself to sleep. 

 

A few hours later Anya woke up to a rumbling noise coming from outside. Alarmed she hurried to the open window, but could only see that there was light on the patio below. She grabbed her baseball bat from the closet and carefully sneaked down the stairs, across the living room to the back door. 

Tightly gripping the doorknob with one hand and raising the baseball bat with the other, she braced herself to fight off a possible invader. She opened the door slowly with bated breath. 

What awaited her on the other side of the door almost made her drop the bat.

“R-Raven?” She stuttered, stunned by the magical sight before her.

The whole patio was illuminated by the glow of what seemed like hundreds of tiny lights and there in the middle stood none other than Raven Reyes. Dressed in an elegant, white, button-down shirt and light-gray suit pants, long brown tresses cascading down over her shoulders, she looked almost ethereal.

After blinking rapidly a few times to make sure that the scene before her was real, Anya became acutely aware of the fact that she was only wearing her Snoopy sleeping shorts and a tank top. But before she could become too self-conscious, Raven took a step forward and reached out her right hand while simultaneously pushing a button on a small device with her left. 

A soft tune filled the air of the mild summer night.

“Dance with me.” The brunette requested softly, a warm-hearted smile adorning her face.

“What?” was all she could muster, her mind not quite catching up with what was happening. 

“Anya, I’m trying really hard here with this big romantic gesture.” Raven chuckled, before adding “So would you please put down the baseball bat and dance with me?”

She felt like her body moved on its own accord then, unable to resist the gravitational force of the dark orbs that were watching her expectantly. After swiftly putting down the bat and leaning it against the doorframe, she stepped forward and took the brunette’s offered hand in hers. 

With one firm tug Raven pulled her closer and laid her left hand on her waist. The younger woman’s touch, warm and gentle and only separated from her skin through the thin fabric of her tank top, made the butterflies in her stomach going wild. Anya took in a shaky breath before she rested her right hand on Raven’s shoulder.

They began slowly swaying to the music, Raven’s eyes never leaving hers. 

She didn’t want to disturb the perfect moment, but she had to know. 

“You came back. You came back for me?” Anya whispered.

The smile on Raven’s face became even bigger and there was a gentleness and affection in her chocolate-brown eyes like Anya had never seen before.

“Of course. Always.”

She didn’t know who leaned in first, but when their lips touched she was sure she never wanted to do anything more in her life than to keep kissing Raven Reyes.

 

 

And now your song is on repeat  
And I’m dancing on to your heartbeat

 

\---


End file.
